What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after the release of a surprisingly weak February jobs report showed an unexpected drop in employment. 

The U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs, a stark contrast to economists' forecasts of a 60,000 gain. The unemployment rate also ticked up to 4.4% from 4.3% in January. This unexpected downturn in the labor market signals potential economic strain, which tends to negatively impact the financial industry. A weakening economy can lead to reduced borrowing and investment activity by businesses and consumers, directly affecting banks' revenues. Moreover, it raises concerns about the ability of borrowers to repay existing loans, increasing credit risk for lenders. The report was described as a 'knock-down blow' to the view that the labor market was stabilizing, fueling investor uncertainty.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• Custody Bank company Northern Trust (NASDAQ: NTRS) fell 3.5%. Is now the time to buy Northern Trust? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Student Loan company Navient (NASDAQ: NAVI) fell 4.1%. Is now the time to buy Navient? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Asset Management company Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) fell 3.7%. Is now the time to buy Carlyle? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Custody Bank company Voya Financial (NYSE: VOYA) fell 3.3%. Is now the time to buy Voya Financial? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Custody Bank company StepStone Group (NASDAQ: STEP) fell 3.9%. Is now the time to buy StepStone Group? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Navient (NAVI)

Navient’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 9 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was about 1 month ago when the stock dropped 14.1% on the news that the company reported disappointing fourth-quarter results that missed both top- and bottom-line expectations. 

Navient reported a GAAP loss per share of $0.06, a stark reversal from the $0.23 profit in the same quarter last year and significantly below the analyst forecast of $0.32. Revenue for the quarter also fell short, declining 16% year-on-year to $137 million and missing the consensus estimate of $155.8 million. The company's profitability metrics highlighted further weakness. Net interest income came in at $118 million, below the $133.3 million that analysts had anticipated. This culminated in a pre-tax loss of $7 million for the quarter, a clear sign of pressure on the company's core operations, which appeared to undermine investor confidence.

Navient is down 35.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $8.23 per share, it is trading 47.2% below its 52-week high of $15.59 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Navient’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $638.48.

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